Lookup, pray up, Stand up

November 29, 2015 Year C First Sunday of Advent Luke Author Doug Mendenhall shares a brief parable that should cause all of us to pause and reflect: Jesus called the other day to say he was passing through and [wondered if] he could spend a day or two with us. I said, "Sure. Love to see you. When will you hit town?" I mean, it's Jesus, you know, and it's not every day you get the chance to visit with him. It's not like it's your in-laws and you have to stop and decide whether the advantages outweigh your having to move to the sleeper sofa. That's when Jesus told me he was actually at a convenience store out by the interstate. I must have gotten that Bambi-in-headlights look, because my wife hissed, "What is it? What's wrong? Who is that?" So I covered the receiver and told her Jesus was going to arrive in eight minutes, and she ran out of the room and started giving guidance to the kids—in that effective way that Marine drill instructors give guidance to recruits. … My mind was already racing with what needed to be done in the next eight—no seven—minutes so Jesus wouldn't think we were reprobate loser slobs. I turned off the TV in the den, which was blaring some weird scary movie I'd been half watching. But I could still hear screams from our bedroom, so I turned off the reality show it was tuned to. Plus, I turned off the kids' set out on the sun porch, because I didn't want to have to explainJon & Kate Plus Eight to Jesus, either, six minutes from now. My wife had already thinned out the magazines that had been accumulating on the coffee table. She put Christianity Today on top for a good first impression. Five minutes to go. I looked out the front window, but the yard actually looked great thanks to my long, hard work, so I let it go. What could I improve in four minutes anyway? I did notice the mail had come, so I ran out to grab it. Mostly it was Netflix envelopes and a bunch of catalogs tied into recent purchases, so I stuffed it back in the box. Jesus doesn't need to get the wrong idea—three minutes from now—about how much on-line shopping we do. I ran back in and picked up a bunch of shoes left by the door. Tried to stuff them in the front closet, but it was overflowing with heavy coats and work coats and snow coats and pretty coats and raincoats and extra coats. We live in the South; why'd we buy so many coats? I squeezed the shoes in with two minutes to go. I plumped up sofa pillows, my wife tossed dishes into the sink, I scolded the kids, and she shooed the dog. With one minute left I realized something important: Getting ready for a visit from Jesus is not an eight-minute job. Then the doorbell rang. Used with permission from author. Doug Mendenhall, "Getting Prepared for the Arrival of Jesus,"www.reporternews.com (9-24-09); submitted by Kevin Miller, executive vice president, Christianity Today International Well the message for today is that it is time for us to get ready. Advent is here and Jesus is coming. And it does take more than 8 minutes to get ready. It takes a lifetime. But God reminds us that we don’t have a lifetime. We only have 27 days. A little less than four weeks. The rest of the world is dressing up for Christmas, but for us – it is time to get ready for the second coming. It is funny, no matter how I try to prepare for this day – I am always caught off guard. The Sunday after thanksgiving sneaks up on me. This is the first Sunday of a new year. We finished year B and now we are into year C. Last week we were reading from the gospel of Mark, for the rest of the year it will be Luke. I spent all weekend shopping for Christmas decorations for the church, while my pumpkins are frozen and rotting on my steps. Am I the only one who gets freaked out walking through the neighborhood and seeing some yards with santa claus and other Christmas decorations, while the house next to it still have fall leaves and turkeys, and then some people even have jackolaterns and other Halloween decorations up. It is a sign of the times that things are changing, and we are all in different places within the change. Advent starts with the end first and ends with the beginning last. Today – there are no manger scenes, no doting mother mary’s. no baby Jesus. – no glory to the newborn King. Today is not about the first coming of Jesus, it is about the second coming of Jesus. The words of today are not hope, joy, love and peace – it is destruction, despair, judgment. Once again this year if you look at the headlines in the news – you see upheaval. Once again this time of year people are marching in the streets, people are afraid of a war breaking out, we are even getting warnings of strange weather this year, as el nino season approaches. Perhaps the politicians waited to tell of the death of Mr. Mcdonalds – because they wanted it to be an advent announcement. I am being facetious. But my point is – this is a dark time in history. There is a lot going on. As we look at the first reading from Luke, we look at the end of the book, not the beginning. Luke speaks of the endtimes. It is obvious that Luke used Mark as a resource, but he takes Mark one step farther. Luke specifically talks about the second coming of Christ. And he reminds us of what it means to wait for Christ. The solution to this despair is not anything we can manufacture – we just have to wait on God to make an appearance. And God will make an appearance in each and every situation that we are going through. Advent is a new day, a new way of thinking and praying and beliving. We tend to face life with the tools of the past, we compare the future with what we have been through before. It is time to erase those old tapes. Put aside those familiar ways of doing things and to embrace a new way for a new day. This is the time for angels and prophets. The message of the angels is to fear not. Face the future with your hear up, unafraid of the darkness ahead. And prophets don’t know what God will do next anymore than we do - but they know the signs of God. They point to us evidence that God is indeed in the situation. Text Illustration: I DIDN'T GO AND SEE The story is about shepherd who was a youth on that first Christmas night. And now he is old and as his grandson sits on his knee he recalls that night, "A long, long time ago, when I was a little more than a boy, I was out on the Judean hills one night with some other shepherds, keeping watch over the flock. And an angel of the Lord came upon us and the glory of the Lord shone roundabout us. And we were very afraid. But the angel said, "fear not... for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord... you shall find the baby in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." When he had said this the old man’s lips quivered and ceased to move and there was silence. Then the grandson turns and looks with wide, puzzled eyes into his grandfathers face and says, " But, grandfather is that all? What did you do when you heard the good news? Was what the angel said really true? Was the Christ child ever really born?" The old shepherd sadly shakes his white head and answers, " I never knew. I never went to see. Some say that it is all a myth. Others say they found in Him, the light of God and the power for life. But for me I could never be quite sure. Because I never did go to see." Have the courage to face life unafraid of what will come next. Luke tells us that Christ is coming again – the signs of the times show us that. His message is for us to observe the signs and to watch and wait for his presence. Ancient philosophers used to believe that history repeated itself every 3000 years. There was no need to step outside the box, because life never changed. I remember in Thailand, there was a sign, that if you were having a problem with someone, not to despair. In 100 years there will be all new people. People pass away, human nature stays the same. We are still dealing with the same hatred, oppression, greed, violence that Jesus talked about, and that was in the old testament. 50 years later, we are still marching asking for justice for black lives. What is the point of us fighting to make a better world, when the same issues get recreated from generation to generation. Man does not have the power to change themselves – but God has the power to make all the difference in the world. That is why God sent his son Jesus to intercede in the world. The world has not changed, so he will intercede again. History does not repeat itself over and over – History has a purpose. The story is moving – and its final chapter will be the redemption of history by Jesus Christ. Christ is never on the side of the status quo - one friend said – You want to be first? Be last. You want to find your life? Lose it. You want to be exalted? Be humbled. You want wholeness? Face your brokennness. You want to be as wise as a serpent? Be as innocent as a dove. You want peace? Show me your sword. I am the Son of God. I am the Son of Adam. Jesus if fully divine. Jesus is fully human. You want the Lion of the Tribe of Judah? Meet the Lamb of God. You want rest? Wear my yoke and take up my cross. Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. Give to God what is God’s. But don’t forget to give to Caesar what is Caesar. If you’re not against us you’re for us. (Mark 9:38-41). If you’re not with me you’re against me (Matt.12:30). Don’t worry about tomorrow. But sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. The last words of our text – Luke tells us when you see sign of despair in your world – keep the faith and have hope. These are the signs that Jesus is on the way – and that it is time for a change. Don’t hold onto the past – but look forward to the future. Don’t give up, but keep going. Hope will change your present and open the door for Christ to come in. we are to look up, pray up and stand up. Bruce E. Olson tells of his experience as a missionary in South America. "I got off the plane in Venezuela that hot August day back in 1962 with only seventy-two dollars in my pocket, nineteen years old, alone, unable to speak Spanish, but convinced that the Lord had told me to go to South America and preach to the Indians." He made friends with some natives and learned to speak Spanish. One day a respected colleague asked him, "Have you ever heard of the Motilone tribe?" He then described a legendary Stone Age Tribe that had resisted civilization. No one had ever learned their language. Few entering their territory ever returned. Bruce felt his heart stir, and he wrote, "I sank back in awe. I knew then that those were the people to whom God wanted me to go." It was no easy task to reach these people. "We chopped our way through the jungle for seven days," he remembered. As they were making their way through the jungle, an arrow pierced his thigh. He fell to the ground. Out of the ferns stepped five squat brown men, eyes glittering under short-cropped hair. "I had met the Motilones," he writes. "They dragged me to my feet and I limped with them to their settlement." As the days passed his wounds festered. "I developed amoebic dysentery and began hemorrhaging blood," Bruce recalled. Things would get much worse before they got better. "The period that followed was a nightmare of pain and trial," he remarks. "I continued to try to bring God's love to those people." For two weeks he lay in a hut dying. Finally, one of the natives took him to a clearing where he was picked up by a helicopter and taken to a hospital in Maracaibo where he was told it would be six months before he would recover. He could never return to a jungle climate. "But I had a deepening peace in my heart," Bruce wrote. "God had brought me to the Motilones; God would help me to continue. Within three weeks I was back up the river." Bruce Olson never gave up. He lived with this tribe for four years and eventually introduced these people to the love of God. (4) Where do we get the ability to keep going even when everything appears to be going wrong? From God and God alone. In times of need we receive help from beyond. Thus we perseveLukre. This brings us final thing to be said. FOLLOWERS ARE NOT TO SIT BY AND DO NOTHING WHILE WAITING FOR CHRIST'S RETURN. While we wait we have work to do. There is nothing that we can do to make a difference in the world, But God makes all of the difference in the world. Luke says that this generation shall not pass away until things change. Sometimes I get sad as I see people pass away that they did not get a chance to see the fruits of their labor. They did not see the redemption of situations, they did not see the redemption of history. But I think that God’s message for us – is not to mourn but to do what we can. Deal with the issue at hand, do the work we must do. Address the problems of today. We were put on this earth for such a time as this. And if we deal with the evil of today – we are doing what God called us to to do. Text Illustration: A. Years ago an interesting sign was seen hanging in a store window during the Christmas season. The original message stated, “Let’s make this the best Christmas ever.” Underneath, some perceptive person had scribbled a legitimate question: “How will we top the first one?” God has promised an event that will easily overshadow the events that surrounded the first coming. Let us pray……. Text Illustration: I DIDN'T GO AND SEE The story is about shepherd who was a youth on that first Christmas night. And now he is old and as his grandson sits on his knee he recalls that night, "A long, long time ago, when I was a little more than a boy, I was out on the Judean hills one night with some other shepherds, keeping watch over the flock. And an angel of the Lord came upon us and the glory of the Lord shone roundabout us. And we were very afraid. But the angel said, "fear not... for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord... you shall find the baby in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." When he had said this the old man’s lips quivered and ceased to move and there was silence. Then the grandson turns and looks with wide, puzzled eyes into his grandfathers face and says, " But, grandfather is that all? What did you do when you heard the good news? Was what the angel said really true? Was the Christ child ever really born?" The old shepherd sadly shakes his white head and answers, " I never knew. I never went to see. Some say that it is all a myth. Others say they found in Him, the light of God and the power for life. But for me I could never be quite sure. Because I never did go to see." When the Play Is Over C. S. Lewis said that when the author appears on the stage, you know the play is over. This is how he understands the doctrine of the Second Coming of our Lord. It means that he who has begun a good work will bring it to the best conclusion of which he is capable. After all, no one has ever claimed that this planet earth was intended to exist forever. In what is called by scientists "the second law of thermodynamics," it is clearly predicted that the energy supply of this planet will eventually come to an end, which means that a conclusion of life as we know it here is inevitable. The concept of the Second Coming merely affirms that such a conclusion will be purposeful. The drama of history is not going to just fizzle out or end in a whimper! It is going to come to the kind of climax that he who conceived the drama wants for it. Gary L. Carver and Tom M. Garrison, Sermons for Sundays in Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany: Building a Victorious Life, CSS Publishing Company, Inc. When Everything Becomes "Merely" Virginia Owens in her book, And The Trees Clap Their Hands, suggests that we lose the wonder of it all, because along the way everything becomes "merely." Things are "merely" stars, sunset, rain, flowers, and mountains. Their connection with God's creation is lost. During this Advent season many things are just "merely." It becomes "merely" Bethlehem, a stable, a birth -- we have no feeling of wonder or mystery. That is what familiarity can do to us over the years. Owens goes on to say that it is this "merely" quality of things that leads to crime. It is "merely" a thing -- I'll take it. It is "merely" an object -- I'll destroy it. It is this "merely" quality of things and life that leads to war. We shall lose "merely" a few thousand men, but it will be worth it. Within the Advent narrative nothing is "merely." Things are not "merely" things, but are part of God's grand design. Common things, such as motherhood, a birth, a child, now have new meaning. This is not "merely" the world, but a world that is charged with the beauty and grandeur of God's design. It is a world so loved by God that God gave his only Son. What is so great about the Advent season is that everything appears charged with the beauty and grandeur of God. John A. Stroman, God's Downward Mobility, CSS Publishing.